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South Alabama RB Jay Jones doesn't need hype to get ready for Mississippi State, any opponent

Louisiana-Lafayette South Alabama Football Dec. 7, 2013

South Alabama hosts Louisiana-Lafayette for a Sun Belt Conference football game Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. South Alabama running back Jay Jones (8) carries the ball as Louisiana-Lafayette linebacker Trae Johnson (38) sets up to make the tackle in the first half. (Mike Kittrell/mkittrell@al.com)
(Mike Kittrell)

The bowling ball of a running back - he's a 5-foot-8, 195-pound senior from Horn Lake, Miss., who arrived at South Alabama via Northeast Mississippi Community College - collected 102 yards and two touchdowns in the Jaguars' first game of the year, a 23-13 win at Kent State. When the Jags look to their running game against MSU on Saturday, most of the time they'll look to Jones to lead the way.

Jones said he recognizes the SEC West Division opponent will be a tough one, but his aim is to continue to lead South Alabama's ground game and do all he can to help the offense has a successful outing.

"We know it's going to be tougher than last week to move the ball on the ground, but it's just going to be extra motivation to give our offensive line a chance to see what they can do against (Mississippi State's) D-line and to make the run game effective,'' Jones said.

Jones' second touchdown at Kent State was a 23-yarder that put the game away for the Jags, scoring in the waning minutes. The importance of the score was enhanced for a team that last season, lost several close games, some in the final moments when it failed to hold a lead.

"I feel good,'' Jones said of his demeanor and health heading into Saturday's game, which begins at 3 p.m. CDT and will also be televised on ESPNews. "I always feel like I could have done more, but I feel I made the right move and the right play at the time when my teammates and coaches needed me most. I feel like it gave me a lot of confidence coming into this week and I'm just going to build off of it.''

Last season, Jones' first with the Jags, he rushed for a team-best 737 yards on 143 carries. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry and scored five touchdowns. His best outing was a 105-yard effort against Sun Belt Conference co-champion Louisiana-Lafayette in South Alabama's final game of the season. He didn't score, but he averaged 5.5 yards per carry against the Ragin' Cajuns.

Saturday, he and his teammates will face a 2-0 Mississippi State team that is allowing just 92 rushing yards a game and has a reputation for sporting one of the toughest defensive lines in the SEC each season.

What's more, linebacker Benardrick McKinney, a 6-5, 245-pound junior from Tunica who is on the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Award watch lists for this season, will be one of the MSU players trying to limit Jones' and South Alabama's success. He and Jones are childhood friends.

"We grew up together. We used to play against each other in pee wee league, even though we lived 30 or 45 minutes away,'' Jones said of McKinney. "My parents and his parents grew up together; they're from the same town. So there's a lot of people calling me, picking their side, picking our side, saying they're going to be down for the game. I know it's going to be big, not only for me but for my family and the bragging rights back home.

"We (he and McKinney) haven't talked. ... My family knows no matter what, I'm going to be the same; I'm going to do whatever I have to do to help us win. I'll let them do all the hyping up of the game. I'm just going to play.''